The following is certain. Verizon will launch a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S II in Q4. The device will run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. It will sport the DROID branding.

What remains a mystery at this point is the device’s final name when it hits Verizon stores. I’ve lost track of the all the rumored names, but they contain about every combination possible using the words Droid, Galaxy, Nexus and Prime.

Others have already speculated this, but I would like to echo that I do not believe this Droid device (the one that will be sold in Verizon stores) is also going to be a Nexus device. Most likely it will ship with Android 2.3.x and include Samsung’s latest TouchWiz UI.

Having said that, this doesn’t mean Verizon will not support the next Nexus phone. I still believe Google wants to see their device on all the big carriers and they will do whatever it takes to make a deal with Verizon. My gut says Best Buy will once again be the retail partner to launch the next Nexus.

For all we know, Verizon might have already picked some other crazy name like Droid Blade (or Cube or Gladiator). But if I were the product manager, I’d seriously consider locking up the rumored “Droid Prime” name to take advantage of all the internet buzz that has been building.

If that sounds like a crazy idea, a similar situation almost occurred last year. This site and several other Android blogs were responsible for hyping up the name Droid Terminator to refer to Motorola’s first series of Tegra 2 phones. We had no knowledge of the Terminator name and it came from a reader comment after seeing us refer to the device as “T2″ (short for Tegra 2).

A reliable source told me AT&T was in talks to license the Terminator branding from its creator James Cameron, similar to the deal that Verizon made with Lucas Films for using Droid. The idea was that AT&T would launch a scary robot name to go head-to-head with Verizon’s wildly successful DROID program.

For unknown reasons, the deal fell apart and AT&T ended up calling their first Tegra 2 phone the Motorola Atrix.

It often amuses me when so much focus is placed on smartphone names after all the ridiculous ones we’ve seen over the years. Some might say these names are meaningless, but I would argue that it can seriously alter a device’s chance of success.

I’m sure Samsung was kicking and fighting to get their Galaxy S II brand on this upcoming big launch, but Verizon doesn’t play that game. In the US the carriers call the shots, and Verizon knows their DROID brand adds a little swagger to the launch.

Whatever happens, we should all know in less than a month. The fall CTIA show in San Diego starts on October 11, and that would be the prime time to make an announcement.

If you were the Verizon product manager, which name would you pick? My money is on Droid Prime.

Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He resides in Dallas and carries the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One as his daily devices. Ask him a question on Twitter or Google+ and he is likely to respond. | Ethics statement

Confused! O_o is Prime & Nexus two separate devices? I would understand if Verizon choose there version of the Galaxy SII to be Droid Branded & leave the Nexus a Nexus. If they don’t….., that pisses me off & I’m on to the next one.

If I was a Verizon product manager, I would stop using the name Droid so OFTEN. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that once you create a successful brand, you should treat it like any precious item and protect it from any harms. One thing that you absolutely don’t want to do is to dilute the brand so much that it lost its value. And that’s exactly what Verizon has been doing. The Droid brand is just about 2 years old and let’s see what we have:

I totally agree with you. However, in this case, calling it a Droid is no problem because the phone will be so badass.

I like the limited release idea to make it more special and make it more of a brand than it is now. It’s sort of a hodge-podge of mid- and high-end devices by different manufacturers. Somebody tried to “explain” to me the other day that EVERY Android phone on Verizon is called a Droid. I guess that’s the kind of consumer you get when you over-saturate the market with your brand.

I personally don’t care for the Droid name. I respect the fact that it really helped Android catch on 2 years ago but every time I hear that voice saying “Droid” it makes me wish they would move on in their branding.

The only Evo sprint shouldn’t have released what the shift. The Evo brand makes you think of high end devices. Droid makes be think of verizon and not a specific awesome device.
And I don’t like verizon… lol

I like making bold predictions. Yes I am wrong lots of times, but I’m also right on the money others. I still don’t think Google would let Verizon put the Droid name on their Nexus device, unless Verizon was playing hardball and that becomes the only option.

>> I still don’t think Google would let Verizon put the Droid name on their Nexus device

Then Verizon wouldn’t let Google release a Nexus device on their network, period. There was no Nexus One, no Nexus S on Verizon. Verizon has been playing hardball all along. The knees of Verizon executives only seem to be bendable to Apple.

Verizon already had enough Hummingbird devices and its seems like Verizon feels the same way with Samsung this time around. Verizon knows there is no need for a Samsung-based Droid, a Samsung-based Nexus, and Sasmung’s GSII!

I think you’re dead-on with this. Droid is what differentiates VZW’s (perceived) highest end phones from other android and other carriers’ android phones. So, if rumors are true that the next Nexus will end up on all carriers (at the same time or even with a VZW early release), they still won’t likely cough up the Droid name plate. Nor would Google want to go away from their own Nexus branding which differentiates IT from other (UI-tweaked) android phones. It simply doesn’t add up for there to be a Nexus + Droid named phone.

Yes, I thought it at least semi-confirmed that Verizon had the exclusive with ICS, whether in OG Droid fashion with SGSII variant (Non-Nexus) with ICS, or as the first release of the new Nexus with ICS. Don’t forget the two model numbers, SCH-i515 (Vzn) and the GT-i9010 (other carrier)

What is wrong with US carriers? Why can’t they just use the name AND original version that the rest of the world use? It’s so weird. Wouldn’t you want to leverage all the worldwide marketing for something like a Galaxy S II? All the 3rd party peripherals that people don’t associate with an S2? It sounds as crazy as a publisher renaming U2 to ‘Sony awesome band 3′ :)

I stopped reading after this, “The following are certain. Verizon will launch a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S II in Q4. The device will run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. It will sport the DROID branding.”

Seems like everyone has already forgotten that Verizon made a statementa few weeks back that they are passing on the GSII. So there goes your Gingerbread/TouchWiz/GSII idea.

Nobody has anything solid yet, but all the rumors are pointing in a completely different direction than this post. I don’t care what the device is called, I just want a vanilla ICS device with LTE. Starring this to compare to what happens in the coming months.

It sounds to me like Verizon is getting the newer GS2 variant that was just released in Canada, the Galaxy s2 LTE. If I remember right it’s pretty much the same as the standard GS2 but with a 1.5 ghz processor and some other minor changes.

O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Verizon would, were he not Prime call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Prime, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Why would the ‘Nexus’ on Verizon be the only one not to have ICS? Would Verizon really turn down ICS so they can call the shots (translate: bog down the device’s potential with shitty bloatware)? Oh wait… All carriers (but T-Mobile) do that now.

I’ve been browsing on-line greater than three hours today, but I by no means found any fascinating article like yours. It is lovely value enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the internet can be much more useful than ever before.

That is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look ahead to in search of extra of your wonderful post. Additionally, I have shared your site in my social networks

I like the valuable info you supply to your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and test again right here regularly. I am moderately certain I’ll learn many new stuff proper right here! Best of luck for the next!

Confused! O_o is Prime & Nexus two separate devices? I would understand if Verizon choose there version of the Galaxy SII to be Droid Branded & leave the Nexus a Nexus. If they don’t….., that pisses me off & I’m on to the next one.

If I was a Verizon product manager, I would stop using the name Droid so OFTEN. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that once you create a successful brand, you should treat it like any precious item and protect it from any harms. One thing that you absolutely don’t want to do is to dilute the brand so much that it lost its value. And that’s exactly what Verizon has been doing. The Droid brand is just about 2 years old and let’s see what we have:

I totally agree with you. However, in this case, calling it a Droid is no problem because the phone will be so badass.

I like the limited release idea to make it more special and make it more of a brand than it is now. It’s sort of a hodge-podge of mid- and high-end devices by different manufacturers. Somebody tried to “explain” to me the other day that EVERY Android phone on Verizon is called a Droid. I guess that’s the kind of consumer you get when you over-saturate the market with your brand.

I personally don’t care for the Droid name. I respect the fact that it really helped Android catch on 2 years ago but every time I hear that voice saying “Droid” it makes me wish they would move on in their branding.

The only Evo sprint shouldn’t have released what the shift. The Evo brand makes you think of high end devices. Droid makes be think of verizon and not a specific awesome device.
And I don’t like verizon… lol

I like making bold predictions. Yes I am wrong lots of times, but I’m also right on the money others. I still don’t think Google would let Verizon put the Droid name on their Nexus device, unless Verizon was playing hardball and that becomes the only option.

>> I still don’t think Google would let Verizon put the Droid name on their Nexus device

Then Verizon wouldn’t let Google release a Nexus device on their network, period. There was no Nexus One, no Nexus S on Verizon. Verizon has been playing hardball all along. The knees of Verizon executives only seem to be bendable to Apple.

Verizon already had enough Hummingbird devices and its seems like Verizon feels the same way with Samsung this time around. Verizon knows there is no need for a Samsung-based Droid, a Samsung-based Nexus, and Sasmung’s GSII!

I think you’re dead-on with this. Droid is what differentiates VZW’s (perceived) highest end phones from other android and other carriers’ android phones. So, if rumors are true that the next Nexus will end up on all carriers (at the same time or even with a VZW early release), they still won’t likely cough up the Droid name plate. Nor would Google want to go away from their own Nexus branding which differentiates IT from other (UI-tweaked) android phones. It simply doesn’t add up for there to be a Nexus + Droid named phone.

Yes, I thought it at least semi-confirmed that Verizon had the exclusive with ICS, whether in OG Droid fashion with SGSII variant (Non-Nexus) with ICS, or as the first release of the new Nexus with ICS. Don’t forget the two model numbers, SCH-i515 (Vzn) and the GT-i9010 (other carrier)

What is wrong with US carriers? Why can’t they just use the name AND original version that the rest of the world use? It’s so weird. Wouldn’t you want to leverage all the worldwide marketing for something like a Galaxy S II? All the 3rd party peripherals that people don’t associate with an S2? It sounds as crazy as a publisher renaming U2 to ‘Sony awesome band 3′ :)

I stopped reading after this, “The following are certain. Verizon will launch a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S II in Q4. The device will run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. It will sport the DROID branding.”

Seems like everyone has already forgotten that Verizon made a statementa few weeks back that they are passing on the GSII. So there goes your Gingerbread/TouchWiz/GSII idea.

Nobody has anything solid yet, but all the rumors are pointing in a completely different direction than this post. I don’t care what the device is called, I just want a vanilla ICS device with LTE. Starring this to compare to what happens in the coming months.

It sounds to me like Verizon is getting the newer GS2 variant that was just released in Canada, the Galaxy s2 LTE. If I remember right it’s pretty much the same as the standard GS2 but with a 1.5 ghz processor and some other minor changes.

O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Verizon would, were he not Prime call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Prime, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Why would the ‘Nexus’ on Verizon be the only one not to have ICS? Would Verizon really turn down ICS so they can call the shots (translate: bog down the device’s potential with shitty bloatware)? Oh wait… All carriers (but T-Mobile) do that now.

I’ve been browsing on-line greater than three hours today, but I by no means found any fascinating article like yours. It is lovely value enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the internet can be much more useful than ever before.

That is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look ahead to in search of extra of your wonderful post. Additionally, I have shared your site in my social networks

I like the valuable info you supply to your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and test again right here regularly. I am moderately certain I’ll learn many new stuff proper right here! Best of luck for the next!